The novel Ghosts of Manhattan introduces the Ghost, the world’s first steampunk super-hero. However, it owes more to the pulp novel than the proto-industrial world of steampunk. It’s more of a Great Gatbsy meets The Shadow meets H.P. Lovecraft.

Meet Gabrial Cross, a scarred young man who served in the Great War, but in the years since – the book is set in 1926 – he has returned to a playboy’s life in New York City, fully aware that his wartime experiences have made him jaded where the wealthy upper class is concerned. The New York he has returned to is littered with jazz, bootleg hooch and a growing underworld that is only now becoming organized under a criminal mastermind known as the Roman.

The cars of this world run on steam, powered by coal rather than gasoline. A holographic telephone is common enough, and there are a few more gadgets to appeal to the retro-technophile for which steampunk is known, as well as twisted history. Britain and America are in the midst of a cold war.

The Gray Ghost, from Batman: The Animated Series

The Ghost himself I envisioned as resembling very much the Gray Ghost, a character featured in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Broad-brimmed hat and goggles for mask, the TV character proved an inspiration to young Bruce Wayne, prompting Batman to seek out the actor who played the role – Adam West in a bit of inspired casting – when Gotham City is threatened by a plot device taken from the old television series.

Supporting characters include a New York City police inspector by the name of Donovan, taken from the same mold as The Shadow’s Detective Joe Cardona; and Celeste, a jazz singer who is our hero’s Achilles heel.

The forces of darkness are most ably represented by Gideon Reece, a sadistic killer and chief underling of the Roman. As villains go, Reece is the Darth Maul of the book; which is to say he is far more interesting than his master, who makes little more than a cameo appearance toward the end of the story.

Author George Mann

George Mann, the author, lives in Britain, and perhaps it’s the small differences in lingo that mar the story. For instance, he uses the word “prized” where my American sensibilities inserted the word, “pried.” Or maybe it’s just sloppy editing, I don’t know. Such flaws are in character with the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method of pulp literature

In any event, I’m happy to overlook such trifles in my appreciation for a book that deftly blends the steampunk world with that of classic American pulps, though in my opinion, it leans more toward the latter.

Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com.